A federal judge has accused the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of “rolling the dice” by pouring $10 million into its proposed Vallejo, Calif., casino despite knowing the project was in serious legal jeopardy.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said the tribe’s resulting financial losses were largely “self-inflicted” as he rejected its bid to temporarily overturn a Department of the Interior decision blocking gaming on the site.

“Scotts Valley rolled the dice and invested anyway,” McFadden wrote in the ruling, adding that the tribe “could have avoided sinking $10 million into a casino project that it knew was in serious legal jeopardy.”

The unusually pointed language came as McFadden denied the tribe’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have revived federal approval for gaming on a Vallejo property earmarked for a $700 million casino resort.

Scotts Valley told the court it invested more than $10 million after securing a favorable Interior ruling in January 2025, including developing a temporary “Preview Casino” at the site.

That facility, consisting of two modular buildings containing 17 Class II gaming machines, opened on a limited basis July 24—just one week before Interior reversed course and ruled that the property was not eligible for tribal gaming.

Scotts Valley claimed it was now spending $235,247 per month maintaining the shuttered facility and the infrastructure needed to restart gaming.

McFadden described that figure as “questionable,” while also finding some of the tribe’s documentation for its $10 million investment lacked detail. More than $2 million was categorized simply as “Admin Office,” while another $4 million-plus category contained brief descriptions of other expenditures.